Sapa

10 January 2013

View from the hilltop town of Sapa down the valley, almost completely obscured by fog.
View from the hilltop town of Sapa down the valley, almost completely obscured by fog.

We took an overnight train up to Sapa arriving early in the morning, only to be confronted with the most persistent fog I have seen. We spend most of our first day walking around the town in the bitter cold.

The Sapa market
The Sapa market
Cooking outdoors in the cold mountain air.
Cooking outdoors in the cold mountain air.
Lights of the town in the fog at night.
Lights of the town in the fog at night.
Sapa's church.
Sapa's church.

On our second day we organised a hike down one of the valleys just outside Sapa. The fog hadn’t cleared and it also rained at various points, so the path was mainly mud, but the valley was fairly spectacular. Almost every inch of it, no matter how steep, had been terraced and was used to grow rice. As we got further down the valley it opened up and and there were several villages we got to stop buy at, complete with the local salespeople (as always).

The incredibly steep terraced rice paddies in the early morning fog.
The incredibly steep terraced rice paddies in the early morning fog.

A toy digger hanging from an electrical wire in a village outside Sapa.
A toy digger hanging from an electrical wire in a village outside Sapa.
An expanse of rice paddies further down the valley.
An expanse of rice paddies further down the valley.
A truck stuck in a ditch.
A truck stuck in a ditch.
The incredibly muddy and precarious path we were walking along.
The incredibly muddy and precarious path we were walking along.
A bridge across the river at the bottom of the valley.
A bridge across the river at the bottom of the valley.